Recipe no. 305 from Jean-Baptiste Reboul's La Cuisinière provençale (1909), page 150.
Ingredients
- fattened hen
- quenelle forcemeat
- macaroni
- bacon
- onions
- carrots
- bouquet garni
- white wine
- broth
- flour
Preparation
- BoningHalf bone the hen by opening along the back and removing the bones of the wings and breast
- PreparingSinge and draw the hen
- GarnishingApply quenelle forcemeat inside around the flesh, fill with macaroni garnish, sew up
- Trussing and settingTruss as for an entree and lard, place in a saucepan lined with bacon, rounds of vegetables and bouquet garni
- CookingSeason and let colour slowly on all sides, turning delicately
- Deglazing and finishingSprinkle with white wine, let reduce, moisten with broth, cook gently while basting often
- Preparing the sauceStrain the pan juices, skim off the fat, bind with diluted flour
- DressingArrange the bird on the dish with a few spoonfuls of macaroni in reserve
Reboul's text
The fattened hen must be half boned, that is, after opening it along the back, the bones of the wings and the breast are removed.
Singed and drawn, apply inside, all around the flesh, a quenelle forcemeat (see the recipe), then fill with the macaroni garnish indicated below; sew up the bird then.
Trussed as for an entree and larded, place it in a saucepan lined with strips of bacon, rounds of onion, carrots and a bouquet garni. Once seasoned let it slowly colour on all sides, turning it delicately.
Then sprinkle with a glass of white wine, which you let reduce, and finally moisten with a few spoonfuls of broth to let it finish cooking very gently, basting it often.
Lastly, strain its pan juices into a saucepan and bind them with a spoonful of diluted flour, after skimming off the fat.
Arrange the bird on the dish with a few spoonfuls of macaroni kept in reserve.
Small Provençal glossary for this recipe
Reboul writes in French: no Provençal word appears in this recipe, apart from the dish's name itself. The table below gives the Provençal equivalents of the words used, in mistralian spelling, translated by Lingua Nostra. Each form is attested in our Provençal-English dictionary; click to open the entry.
| Provençal | English |
|---|---|
| poulardo | fattened hen |
| desoussa | bone |
| besuscla | singe |
| farço | forcemeat |
| raviolo | quenelles |
| macarroun | macaroni |
| lard | bacon |
| brida | truss |
| vin | white wine |
| founs | pan juices |
Source: Jean-Baptiste Reboul, La Cuisinière provençale, Marseille, 1909, recipe no. 305, page 150. Public domain. Transcription, formatting and Provençal glossary by Lingua Nostra.